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IT Executive Jobs Forecast: Cloudy with a Chance of Rain?

Cindy Cheng, ​Sr. Director of Marketing Communications, EMEA, Appian
October 2, 2013

The market for enterprise corporate software in the cloud is expanding and maturing. The benefits of cloud computing are proven and more organizations are saving costs, increasing efficiency and agility, and leveraging other benefits of cloud computing.According to Gartner,more than 50% of global 1,000 companies will utilize cloud services by the end of 2016. As more companies and organizations take advantage of the cloud, what does it mean for traditional CIOs, CTOs, and other IT executives?

Appian's co-founder and Chief Technology Officer, Michael Beckley, penned an insightful article for Wired.com on "How the Cloud is Changing the Role of Technology Leaders." Beckley maintains that IT leaders need to hone new skills or risk being relegated to the role of IT order-taker in the cloud era. "More than ever, CIOs and CTOs need to bring new ideas and perspectives about how their executive-level function can drive business growth. Fail and both they and the companies they work for may be eclipsed by more forward-thinking competitors."

According to Beckley, technology executives can leverage the power of cloud, mobile, and social technologies to succeed in today and tomorrow's IT economy with these mindsets.

Develop Better Business Acumen and Think Strategically

Technology change is forcing disruption in how IT departments service internal users and they way businesses deliver their products to customers.The business strategy component is becoming far more critical to the relevance and success of senior level technology professionals. Organizations with strategically minded CIOs or CTOs will flourish. Those with CIOs or CTOs who resist change or are content with the status quo will lag behind in their industries.

AugmentExisting IT Infrastructure with Cloud Computing

Cloud options from Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), to Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) are not entirely replacing internal infrastructure; they augment it. As a result, business needs greater application development expertise across a broader range of skill sets, not less. In-house application developers must be capable of crafting solutions that span both the cloud and on-premise resources, securing and leveraging the opportunities inherent in technology without giving up the processes that differentiate and deliver competitive advantage.

Partner with the CEO and other C-Suite Executives for Business Growth

In the era of the cloud and big data, technology can offer tremendous insight into business and strategy. This presents opportunities for CIOs and CTOs to collaborate with the CEO and other C-suite executives, such as the CFO, CMO, and COO. Partnerships between IT and business executives can lead to better understanding of core business operations and processes, based on data metrics and results. Business growth starts with asound strategy, which comes frominformation, insight, and execution.

>>Read the full article from Appian's CTO

>> Follow Michael Beckley on Twitter @AppianCTO

>>Download the whitepaper to learn how BPM in the cloud can deliver value, security, and speed2013-10-CloudWhitepaper3D

Cindy Cheng

Director of Product Marketing

Cindy Cheng